woodseye

About a month ago I compared the Zeiss Conquest 3.5x10x44 to the Leupold Vari X lll 3.5x10x40 and reported my findings on the various points I consider in a scope.The Zeiss won the bulk of these points and I bought two of them,one for a 243 night coyote gun and the other my favorite 7mm-08 deer rifle.Well the weather finially warmed up some and I got out and cleaned the bench off and broke trail down to my targets and did some shooting.I had sold off a Burris FF ll,two B&L' s(early models)B&L 3000 elite, and three Leupold Vari X ll' s.My goal was to upgrade to a Zeiss Conquest,B&L 4200 elite,and a couple Leupold Vari X lll' s,I shot the Leupolds and everything went well as I have learned to expect from that brand and I progressed to the first Zeiss.The first one behaved nicely and the 243 ended up printing a best of all times .552 group,it sent several bullets into the same hole during shooting and I was thrilled with the conquest(when they are good they are very good,when they are bad, they are very BAD)On to the 7mm and here is where things got way bad,the adjustments were crazy with one click moving the prescribed 1/4" and the next click moving 1" ! The gun has always been very accurate and now it shot patterns instead of groups,I checked tightness of everything and continued........It was randomly shooting high/low/right/and left,it wouldn' t hold poi and tracking was like a sick joke.It was after careful sighting while I was letting the barrel cool that I noticed it was not parallex adjusted right at 100yds either!I pulled it off and decided to return it and get another Leupold,when I adjust a leupold at the bench the bullet holes track right along with the adjustments and give quite a feeling of confidance.The Zeiss is quite impressive in optics but the poi and tracking as well as parallex out of adjustment are just what the critics are complaining of on the forums so I guess I got one good and one bad.50% is not good odds so I think I will go back to a leupold on my deer rifle.Am I sorry I tried the Zeiss? No,and I will use the good one till it gives me reason to distrust it,the groups that gun was shooting were perfect.Will I buy another?Probably not now till I see how the one I have continues to hold poi and lasts.They are a new scope and not tried and proven like Leupold is so I' ll take more of a wait and see approach at this point.Haven' t recieved my elite 4200 yet and I will see what I think of that next week.I call em' like I see em' so I had a winner and a loser in the actual gun shooting porition of my scope testing with the Conquests.Both Leupolds shot so far have been perfect in every respect.

skeeter 7MM

Woods, thanks for once again for your honest opinion. That is too bad about the Zeiss, I was really thinking hard about picking up one. I think I ' ll stick with what I have for now...thanks again. BTW my (2) 4200 Elite' s have been pretty solid, they don' t seem to track as true as my Loopy or Burris, but pretty good. Decent glass quality and POI has always held true in my case. Hope you find the same when you get yours.

Are you returning the " Bad" Zeiss?

Here' s a tidbit, Burris has been recently bought by Berretta. Not sure if that is good or bad, but thought I would pass it on.

woodseye

So far from what I hear the Burris sale has been for the worst as far as customer service goes.The Zeiss is being returned to the sellar and they are swapping me a Leupold 3.5x10x50 Vari X lll to replace.I had only had it about two weeks,it bummed me cause I liked the conquest and the first one printed so well.I had seen some posts on poi shift and adjustment problems but I thought it was just random problems on some of the early produced scopes.I scored 50/50 on my success with them.I look forward to see what the elite will be like,they are heavy with closer eye relief but its going on a bench varmint gun so its not really an issue like my walk around game rifles.I' m interested in the brightness of the new 50mm Leupold compared to the 40mm Leupold and the remaining 44mm Zeiss.I hate when things don' t go the way they are supposed to but I still regard poi and tracking as two pretty important things [&:]

woods

JD IN ALBERTA

Well now you' ve done it!! I was all excited to pick my scope up next month when it went on sale but now I' m reconsidering. I guess it' s for the best I found out now but why do you do this to me? just kidding of course. I know I can' t expect it to happen to my scope also but that' s a little worrysome. Woods, did you ever get the 3-9X40? I would like to know if you had any problems with it...thanks for the info. Still undecided!
JDinAb

woodseye

No JD I had two 3.5x10x44' s and thought they were the best thing since sliced bread when I compared them side by side to the Leupolds.But when the rubber met the road in the shooting phase I found one to be a stinker.The one is as good a scope as I' ve ever shot and it behaved like a pro,but the other was real messed up.I don' t think I' ll buy any more right now till I see how the remaining one is going to hold up.Better you hear this now rather than later!Will keep you posted on how the replacement Leupold does and how the good Zeiss continues to act.I shoot a lot so things will either work or down the road they go.If it hadn' t been so cold I would have known two weeks ago what was the case instaed of just finding out now.

woods

trailer

Woodeye, I have been following the information you have past on for the Zeiss Conquest and was very impressed. I was also considering on the Conquest but at a later date. Now with this tale I will be waiting for more information from you. Keep up the good work and thanks alot for the info

stubblejumper

Woodseye-Just out of curiosity let us know how the leupold works on the 7mm-08.I would like to how a replacement scope will do just to verify that there are no mounting or rifle issues.As for the bad ziess I guess every manufacturer has a goof now and then.It would be nice to see how ziess handled the situation.

woodseye

Yes,I' ll do that,the rifle had a Leupold Vari X ll 3x9x40 on the same mounts that I removed to put the Zeiss on.It shot 3/4-1" groups consistently and never gave me a moments trouble in three years.Same ammo so I don' t know what could have happened other than the new scope.The Leupold is on its way so I will give everyone a rundown as soon as I get and its warm enough and not too windy to shoot it. I will say the problems I encountered are the exact same things I' ve heard on several different forums and seem to always involve POI and tracking.I wish it hadn' t happened as I thought I was onto something great.When I move a set number of clicks,I want the scope to respond by moving POI to that exact spot the click value indicates it should go.I was going to return to Zeiss and I' m sure they would have repaired or replaced the scope but several things went thru my mind,I wasn' t sure I wanted another Conquest right now,and if I got a bad one out of two purchased then I might get a bad one again if they replaced it.I don' t know if their testing technique has anything to do with this or if it was simply luck of the draw.Think I' ll stick with Leupolds till I see what the Conquest I still have does for holding up.It definately shook my confidance in the Conquests if nothing else.

woods

JD IN ALBERTA

Woods....well now I' m really confusing myself. I went to a local shooting range in town and got to look at a Schmidt & Bender. It' s pricey but what a scope, I' m thinking to hell with all this nonsense and spend a couple hundred bucks more for true quality that will last a lifetime. The dealer deals directly with the owners for any warranty or servicing. Not saying Leupold isn' t great, but the european optics and glass are just better than of any American/Japanese products, thats why the huge price difference. The conquest doesn' t say where their glass comes from (most assume from europe, but probably isn' t) I even checked the web site and it doesn' t say where their lenses are made. I' m sure thats why they are hundreds less than the other Zeiss series. Woods...can I confuse myself any more? Good thing the season doesn' t start for a few more months, gives me lot' s of time to ponder, play and shop.[8D]

woodseye

This will explain where the conquest parts come from,John Barsness got this straight from the head of zeiss engineering - lenses are made in Hungary in a plant zeiss has used for years.Erector system is assembled in Germany,and tubes are made in the US with the lenses and erector systems installed stateside.I didn' t find the lenses to be the problem as the conquest lenses were slightly better than the Leupold and the top line zeiss,swarovski,and schmidt&bender will have even better glass.The shifting POI and tracking problems seem to be dogging the conquest and according to the optics boards which I am paying more attention to of late the A-Line swarovskis.I think the schmidt&bender will serve you well and is above my budget at this point.These scopes are a grand+ down here so I can only imagine what you will be looking at.I believe the Vari X lll will allow me to see anything that moves during legal shooting light here(with the heavy duplex) so I think I' ll see how the good conquest behaves on the only night time gun I will use for coyote calling.Your eye can tell you what lens is brightest and clearest but it seems only shooting will tell you what scopes will hold up and preform the best.I' ll hold any decisions till I put the new Leupold on the gun and shoot it.

woods